The move has already gathered support from groups including Invesco Asset Management, Woodford Investment Management, Ruffer and Sarasin & Partners, who have purchased varying quantities of the 165p shares.
Facilitated by Liberum Capital, the shares were placed on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market.
Invesco has committed to buying the largest amount, at 22,330,238, while Woodford, Ruffer and Sarasin will acquire 19,111,632, 14,859,393 and 5,454,545 respectively.
In monetary terms, these figures equate to around £36.8m in the Invesco purchase and £31.5m for Woodford, while Ruffer and Sarasin’s shares are worth about £24.5m and £9m respectively.
Oakley’s most recent trading update – for the year ending 31 December 2014 and published 9 February – declared the company’s net asset value at between £255m and £257m, or NAV per share between 199p and 201p, subject to completion of a December audit.
Peter Dubens, OCIL director, said: “We believe that this additional funding will enable us to further leverage opportunities within our portfolio and also more broadly in new investments within the mid-market segment.”
